Motherhood is both an experience and a myth. It’s one of the most amazing, nerve-wracking, and life-changing experiences. But our lofty expectations also make mothering a myth.

When you grieve the loss of a child or have infertility, it’s a strange mix of longing for the experience and mourning for the myth of motherhood.

The challenge is to grieve the experience without getting caught up in the myth.

I know this challenge personally. One of the consequences of having infertility and loss of my first daughter to SIDS was my romanticizing motherhood. …

Writing a personal essay introduction doesn’t have to be hard.

When I was a writing professor, I often assigned personal essays to my students. These types of writing are also a mainstay on blogs, Medium, and in other online settings. And there are some key elements in a successful personal essay. The introduction is certainly one of them.

Introductions are just as important as headlines in capturing the reader’s attention. A headline gets you to click. But an intro draws you in.

The intro to the personal essay sets you up for the rest of the piece. It gives the…

The secret to success on Medium is to stop trying to be a success.

That probably sounds counter-intuitive. It might even frustrate writers who have worked to achieve a level of success.

But, focusing on external indicators of success like how many readers you have and how much money you make from writing is a dead end. It will never lead to happiness.

Maybe you’ll be a success in those terms. But it will never be enough.

The fact is, external valuation will never satisfy you.

And even when you achieve some measure of success, you will always be less…

Have you ever had a pandemic cheat day?

A day when you don’t have to think about the consequence of your every action.

A day where there’s no choice of…

Today Derek Chauvin was convicted and snow is pouring from the Missouri sky in April.

Maybe hell has frozen over. At least temporarily.

I didn’t expect George Floyd’s family to get any justice. Maybe I’m too cynical. Maybe this means things will get better. Am I still too cynical because I doubt that?

In terms of the snow, maybe it’s global warming? I can’t remember it ever snowing this late in the year here in Missouri. Certainly it’s odd because it was 70 degrees yesterday. …

After taking a semi-hiatus from Medium, I’m a different writer.

I’m a happier writer.

And you can be, too.

Let me back up…

A year ago, I took a break writing regularly on Medium. This was after breaking $1500 last March. Unfortunately, my Medium income then plummeted for multiple reasons. Fortunately, this decline was a huge catalyst for personal growth.

A year later, I’m writing on Medium more frequently. But my approach has changed. In short, I’m a happier writer on Medium.

And you can be, too.

What inspired this change?

My circumstances at home changed and the world changed.

Basically, during the pandemic, I had my husband and step-son working from home…

I did the Medium survey for a $5 Amazon card.

• They were asking questions comparing Medium to Twitter and LinkedIn.

I’m not sure why they were comparing the three. Especially…

I’m cheating on Medium.

Okay, not quite. It’s not like I’m in a relationship with Medium. But for a long time Medium has been my go to place for my writing. Like 2 years.

For one year it was over 100 pieces on Medium. Then the next year, maybe on or two a month. But when I came back roaring to go, Medium wasn’t the same. Alas, maybe I wasn’t the same. A pandemic can do that to you.

Let me back up, when I started writing for Medium, it was simply to have a place to jot down some…